First Principles Thinking, by definition, only assumes the most well-stablished axioms. If your assumptions get broken by a paradigm shift, then you simply fail

First Principles Thinking, by definition, only assumes the most well-stablished axioms. If your assumptions get broken by a paradigm shift, then you simply failed at proper First Principles Thinking IMHO. The issue with First Principles Thinking is the required resources (cognitive, temporal, financial, etc.). P.S. The abstraction-level example the author gives in the blog post look like a case of incomplete information.